Francis Bacon
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Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Alban (; 22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher and statesman who served as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England under King James I. Bacon argued for the importance of natural philosophy, guided by the scientific method, and his works remained influential throughout the Scientific Revolution. Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. He argued for the possibility of scientific knowledge based only upon inductive reasoning and careful observation of events in nature. He believed that science could be achieved by the use of a sceptical and methodical approach whereby scientists aim to avoid misleading themselves. Although his most specific proposals about such a method, the Baconian method, did not have long-lasting influence, the general idea of the importance and possibility of a sceptical methodology makes Bacon one of the later founders of the scientific method. His portion of the method based in ...
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Baconian Method
The Baconian method is the investigative method developed by Francis Bacon, one of the founders of modern science, and thus a first formulation of a modern scientific method. The method was put forward in Bacon's book ''Novum Organum'' (1620), or 'New Method', to replace the old methods put forward in Aristotle's ''Organon''. It influenced the early modern rejection of medieval Aristotelianism. Description in the ''Novum Organum'' Bacon's view of induction Bacon's method is an example of the application of inductive reasoning. However, Bacon's method of induction is much more complex than the essential inductive process of making generalisations from observations. Bacon's method begins with description of the requirements for making the careful, systematic observations necessary to produce quality facts. He then proceeds to use induction, the ability to generalise from a set of facts to one or more axioms. However, he stresses the necessity of not generalising beyond what the fac ...
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The Right Honourable
''The Right Honourable'' (abbreviation: The Rt Hon. or variations) is an honorific Style (form of address), style traditionally applied to certain persons and collective bodies in the United Kingdom, the former British Empire, and the Commonwealth of Nations. The term is predominantly used today as a style associated with the holding of certain senior public offices in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand, and, to a lesser extent, Australia. ''Right'' in this context is an adverb meaning 'very' or 'fully'. Grammatically, ''The Right Honourable'' is an adjectival phrase which gives information about a person. As such, it is not considered correct to apply it in direct address, nor to use it on its own as a title in place of a name; but rather it is used in the Grammatical person, third person along with a name or noun to be modified. ''Right'' may be abbreviated to ''Rt'', and ''Honourable'' to ''Hon.'', or both. ''The'' is sometimes dropped in written abbreviated form, but is ...
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Renaissance Philosophy
The designation "Renaissance philosophy" is used by historians of philosophy to refer to the thought of the period running in Europe roughly between 1400 and 1600. It therefore overlaps both with late medieval philosophy, which in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries was influenced by notable figures such as Albert the Great, Thomas Aquinas, William of Ockham, and Marsilius of Padua, and early modern philosophy, which conventionally starts with René Descartes and his publication of the '' Discourse on Method'' in 1637. Continuities The structure, sources, method, and topics of philosophy in the Renaissance had much in common with those of previous centuries. Structure of philosophy Particularly since the recovery of a great portion of Aristotelian writings in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, it became clear that, in addition to Aristotle's writings on logic, which had already been known, there were numerous others roughly having to do with natural philosophy, mor ...
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Novum Organum
The ''Novum Organum'', fully ''Novum Organum, sive Indicia Vera de Interpretatione Naturae'' ("New organon, or true directions concerning the interpretation of nature") or ''Instaurationis Magnae, Pars II'' ("Part II of The Great Instauration"), is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon, written in Latin and published in 1620. The title is a reference to Aristotle's work '' Organon'', which was his treatise on logic and syllogism. In ''Novum Organum'', Bacon details a new system of logic he believes to be superior to the old ways of syllogism. This is now known as the Baconian method. For Bacon, finding the essence of a thing was a simple process of reduction, and the use of inductive reasoning. In finding the cause of a 'phenomenal nature' such as heat, one must list all of the situations where heat is found. Then another list should be drawn up, listing situations that are similar to those of the first list except for the lack of heat. A third table lists situations wher ...
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Salomon's House
Salomon's House (or Solomon's House) is a fictional institution in Sir Francis Bacon's utopian work ''New Atlantis'', published in English in 1627, after Bacon's death. In this work, Bacon portrays a vision of the future of human discovery and knowledge. Salomon's House is credited with being the standard upon which 17th century scientific academies, including the French Academy of Sciences, French Académie des Sciences and the Royal Society, English Royal Society, are based. Historical context It is speculated that Bacon was inspired by contemporary men of science Cornelis Drebbel and Salomon de Caus, as well as author and courtier Thomas Chaloner (courtier), Sir Thomas Chaloner. According to the "Note on the Texts" in the revised critical edition, the original 1627 edition published by Bacon's literary executor William Rawley has "King Solamona" and "Salomon's House", while the 1658 and 1670 editions (long after Bacon's death) have "King Salomona" and "Solomon's House." The id ...
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Knowledge Is Power
The phrase "" (or "" or also "") is a Latin aphorism meaning "knowledge is power", commonly attributed to Sir Francis Bacon. The expression "" ('knowledge itself is power') occurs in Bacon's ''Meditationes Sacrae'' (1597). The exact phrase "" (knowledge is power) was written for the first time in the 1668 version of ''Leviathan'' by Thomas Hobbes, who was a secretary to Bacon as a young man. The related phrase "" is often translated as "wisdom is power". In the modern and contemporary inquiries of the proposition, Stephen Gill furthered Robert Cox's deconstructive statement on the ontology of knowledge, with an objective epistemological statement that "any theory of knowledge production needs to have a power dimension". History Origins and parallels A proverb in practically the same wording is found in Hebrew, in the Biblical Book of Proverbs (24:5): . This was translated in the Latin Vulgata as "" and in the King James Version as "A wise man is strong, a man of knowledge ...
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Idola Tribus
''Idola tribus'' (singular ''Idolum tribus'') is a category of logical fallacy, normally translated as "Idols of the Tribe", which refers to a tendency of human nature to prefer certain types of incorrect anthropocentric conclusions. It is a Latin term, coined by Sir Francis Bacon and used in his ''Novum Organum'', one of the earliest treatises arguing the case for the methodical approach of modern science. Overview The idols of the tribe form one of four such groups of "idols" which represent "idols and false notions which are now in possession of the human understanding, and have taken deep root therein, not only so beset men's minds that truth can hardly find entrance, but even after entrance is obtained, they will again in the very instauration of the sciences meet and trouble us, unless men being forewarned of the danger fortify themselves as far as may be against their assaults. Besides ''idola tribus'', there are also: * '' idola specus'' (Idols of the Cave, caused by ...
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Idola Specus
''Idola specus'' (singular ''Idolum specus''), normally translated as "Idols of the Cave" (or "Idols of the Den"), is a type of logical fallacy whereby the peculiar biases of individuals lead them to errors. This Latin term was coined by Sir Francis Bacon and used in his ''Novum Organum'', one of the earliest treatises arguing the case for the logic and method of modern science. He described them as deriving from "the peculiar constitution, mental or bodily, of each individual; and also in education, habit, and accident".''Novum Organum'', Aphorism LIII Overview The ''idola specus'' are prejudices, by which individuals inappropriately extend norms or tenets that derive his or her own culture and social group, or to his or her own preferences. Racism, sexism and, more generally just "biases" are examples of ''idola specus'', but the concept goes beyond them to the criticism of all forms of irreflexive subjectivity or individual predisposition. The term is one of four such "idols" ...
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Idola Theatri
''Idola theatri'' (singular ''Idolum theatri'') is a type of tendency towards logical fallacy or error, normally translated as "idols of the theatre". The Latin was coined by Sir Francis Bacon in his ''Novum Organum''—one of the earliest treatises arguing the case for the logic and method of modern science. Bacon described them as "Idols which have immigrated into men's minds from the various dogmas of philosophies, and also from wrong laws of demonstration." He named them Idols of the Theater "because in my judgment all the received systems are but so many stage plays, representing worlds of their own creation after an unreal and scenic fashion."''Novum Organum'', Book I, Aphorism XLIV Overview The term is one of four such "idols", that represent "idols and false notions" that are "in possession of the human understanding, and have taken deep root therein, not only so beset men's minds that truth can hardly find entrance, but even after entrance is obtained, they will aga ...
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Idola Fori
''Idola fori'' (singular ''Idolum fori''), sometimes translated as "Idols of the Market Place" or "Idols of the Forum", are a category of logical fallacy which results from the imperfect correspondences between the word definitions in natural language, and the real things in nature which these words represent. The term was coined in Latin by Sir Francis Bacon and used in his ''Novum Organum'', one of the earliest treatises arguing the case for the logic and method of modern science. Overview The term is one of four such "idols" which represent "idols and false notions which are now in possession of the human understanding, and have taken deep root therein". Because of them, "truth can hardly find entrance" in people's minds, and Bacon predicted that even after the "instauration of the sciences" which he proposes, they will "meet and trouble us, unless men being forewarned of the danger fortify themselves as far as may be against their assaults". They are in other words problems ...
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Philosophical Logic
Understood in a narrow sense, philosophical logic is the area of logic that studies the application of logical methods to philosophical problems, often in the form of extended logical systems like modal logic. Some theorists conceive philosophical logic in a wider sense as the study of the scope and nature of logic in general. In this sense, philosophical logic can be seen as identical to the philosophy of logic, which includes additional topics like how to define logic or a discussion of the fundamental concepts of logic. The current article treats philosophical logic in the narrow sense, in which it forms one field of inquiry within the philosophy of logic. An important issue for philosophical logic is the question of how to classify the great variety of non-classical logical systems, many of which are of rather recent origin. One form of classification often found in the literature is to distinguish between extended logics and deviant logics. Logic itself can be defined as t ...
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Natural Philosophy
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe, while ignoring any supernatural influence. It was dominant before the development of modern science. From the ancient world (at least since Aristotle) until the 19th century, ''natural philosophy'' was the common term for the study of physics (nature), a broad term that included botany, zoology, anthropology, and chemistry as well as what is now called physics. It was in the 19th century that the concept of science received its modern shape, with different subjects within science emerging, such as astronomy, biology, and physics. Institutions and communities devoted to science were founded. Isaac Newton's book '' Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica'' (1687) (English: ''Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy'') reflects the use of the term ''natural philosophy'' in the 17th century. Even in the 1 ...
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